Duplicate Bridge Association of Atlanta

President Jack Feagin called the meeting to order.  Present:  Jack Feagin, Judy Fendrick, Donna Holland, Bill Burks, Josie Mitchell, Bob Heller, Richard Browne, Richard Holland, Kevin Collins and Nicolas Hammond.

 

Items highlighted in blue require future discussion and/or follow-up action.

 

1.  Minutes:  February 7, 2007 minutes were approved.

 

2.  Financial: 

Bill Burks presented the December, January and February Treasurer’s Reports.  The board reviewed and approved the reports.  Jack requested a full-year statement in order to get a complete financial picture.  Bill will work with Donna to prepare this statement for posting on the website.  The two Bank of America signatories are Bill Burks and Michael Kilgore.  Donna Holland needs to be added.  The CD’s are only paying 2%; Bill suggested we should consider some higher-paying options.  In addition, Ed Foran was asked to review the DBAA’s financial statements and bank accounts, and we will follow up with him after April 15.

 

3.  Special Games:                  

Change of Rank Party:  Jack stated we need someone to spearhead the project.  Our suggested timeframe is the first week in May.  Richard Browne will follow-up with Alpharetta, and Donna and Richard Holland will follow up with the other clubs to determine their preferred dates.  We will reimburse each club up to $50 for food for their party.  Each change of rank honoree will be entitled to one free play.  Discussion was tabled pending finalized dates.

 

4.  Old Business:

Telephone Book:  The telephone books are due from the Publisher within a week.  We will distribute them to the clubs and replenish supplies as needed.

 

5.        New Business:

New Board Members:  Jack acknowledged the hard work of former Board members Marijan Word, Carolyn Eckert, Beatrice Kemp, Josie Mitchell and Bill Burks, and welcomed the new members. 

 

DBAA’s Role in Promoting Bridge:  Jack indicated our role is to find new ways to market and bring in new people to bridge.  We recognize that more young people are learning to play independently on the internet.  We need to support club owners who want to teach bridge.  In the past, clubs were requested to submit ideas regarding teaching.  Donna suggested a program to allow people under age 25 to play free or at a reduced fee.  Tournament policy is $5 versus $8 if under age 25.  Richard Starr has started a bridge class at Georgia Tech.  Jack encouraged him to bring a proposal to us.

 

We need to try and bring people back who have stopped playing due to lack of partners.  One suggestion was to mail the new directories to people who are not currently playing.  Another idea is to pull listings of those who have not won a master point in 6 months and make contact.  

 

Bill Burks worked on a project to determine the cost to take out an ad in the Atlanta newspaper.  It is exorbitantly expensive.  We used Creative Loafing in the past; the weekend magazine advertising is free.  Straight advertising rates are quite high.

 

Other options for potential new members may be Senior Citizen Centers, Jewish Community Centers, churches and other civic organizations.  We may consider designating a publicity coordinator.    

 

Meeting adjourned at 7:30 pm.  Next meeting:  Wednesday April 4, 2007 @ 6:15 pm